CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Boston College Eagles showed Friday night why they were a unanimious choice to win the Hockey East regular-season title in the preseason coaches poll.

The Eagles received a shorthanded goal from J.D. Forrest, a power-play goal from Ben Eaves, and a goal off a tremendous individual effort by Ryan Shannon to build a 3-0 lead en route to an impressive 4-1 win over previously undefeated Maine, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.

Maine’s Luc Aquino pulled the Bears within 3-1, but Ryan Murphy’s goal sewed up the triumph with 3:13 remaining.

BC, ranked fifth in both major polls, is now 5-2-1 overall, 2-1 in Hockey East, while Maine fell to 7-1 and 2-1, respectively.

“BC deserved to win. They outworked us in every category, and a typical example was we had a power play and we turned it over and they beat us up the ice and scored shorthanded. We took penalties throughout the game that we shouldn’t have taken. We bit ourselves in the butt tonight,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead.

“We weren’t sharp at all. We weren’t moving our feet, we weren’t talking, and they played a really good game. That’s why it was 4-1. It was pretty embarrassing,” said Maine sophomore defenseman and assistant captain Jeff Mushaluk. “They had odd-man rushes all night long.”

The Eagles were a step quicker all night and it was particularly noticeable in the first period when they jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Forrest and Eaves.

Boston College held Maine to a season-low three shots on goal and eight shot attempts over the first 20 minutes.

Forrest’s goal came while the Eagles were shorthanded and the play was set in motion by a lazy cross-ice pass by Maine captain Todd Jackson.

Ben Eaves intercepted the pass and the Eagles generated a three-on-two.

“I was trying to get it to [Mike] Lundin, but I didn’t get anything on it. Their ‘D’ [defenseman] was on me and it went to the wrong person, obviously,” said Jackson.

Eaves held the puck until dropping it to Forrest, who waited patiently while cutting across the high slot. A Maine backchecker took out Bear goalie Jimmy Howard, and Forrest simply roofed a 17-foot wrister over the fallen goalie.

Eaves made it 2-0 on the power play after Mushaluk’s weak backhander failed to clear the zone.

Patrick Eaves kept the puck in at the left point and fed a cross-ice pass to Tony Voce in the right circle.

Voce waited for Ben Eaves to find open ice in the middle of the slot and then put a perfect pass onto his stick. Eaves’ one-timer beat Howard high to the glove side.

BC had 10 shots on goal in the first period and attempted 19 in all. BC outshot Maine 35-24 for the game.

In the second period, the Bears had a glorious opportunity to pull within one when an airborne puck bounced up to Jon Jankus, who was alone at the top of the crease on the far side.

Jankus gloved it down, but “it took a big hop on me,” allowing Matti Kaltiainen to get his right pad across and smother Jankus’ follow-up shot.

Shannon made it 3-0 moments later when he picked up the puck in the neutral zone along the left wing, worked his way around Maine defenseman Troy Barnes, and jammed home his own rebound.

The Bears’ Aquino, returning after a three-game absence due to a shoulder problem, gave the Bears some life when he pounced on a turnover in the BC zone to the left of Kaltiainen, took a stride, and snapped a wrist shot over the goalie’s glove for his first career goal.

Maine had a golden opportunity to claw back into the game with a four-on-three power play that led into a five-on-three.

But BC did an effective job limiting Maine to outside shots and Kaltiainen made a couple of important saves, including a gem on Greg Moore, who corraled a Prestin Ryan rebound, fought off a check, and swept a backhander that was kicked out by the Eagle goalie.

Tempers flared with 30 seconds remaining as several wrestling matches occurred resulting in 42 penalty minutes being doled out.

Ryan received a 5-minute misconduct for punching and will have to sit out tonight’s game against New Hampshire in Durham.

“You can’t take a shift off against a team like BC and we took the whole game off,” said Jackson. “It was pretty disappointing.”

EAGLES 4, BLACK BEARS 1

Maine (7-1) 0 1 0 ? 1

BC (5-2-1) 2 1 1 ? 4

First period ?1. BC, Forrest 2 (B. Eaves, P. Eaves), 9:16 (sh); 2. BC, B. Eaves 3 (Voce, P. Eaves), 18:04 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Lundin, hitting from behind, 6:30; BC, Shannon, hooking, 7:32; Maine, B. Murphy, interference, 17:41; Maine, Ryan, slashing, 18:25.

Second period ? 3. BC, Shannon 2 (unassisted), 7:16; 4. Maine, Aquino (unassisted), 9:13. Penalties: BC, Alberts, interference, :21; BC, Gionta, roughing and 10-minute misconduct, 1:06; Maine, Ryan, roughing and 10-minute misconduct, 1:06; BC, Peterson, contact to the head, 2:55; Maine, Shepheard, contact to the head, 2:55; BC, Collins, contact to the head, 10:02; Maine, Shields, contact to the head, 10:02; Maine, Deschamps, slashing, 13:42; BC, Boyle, hooking, 14:40; BC, Alberts, contact to the head, 14:58; BC, P. Eaves, hooking, 17:44.

Third period ? 5. BC, Murphy 2 (Dziama, Havern), 16:47. Penalties: BC, Voce, hooking, 7:10; Maine, Damon, high sticking, 7:31; Maine, Shepheard, contact to the head, 12:28; BC, P. Eaves, high sticking, roughing, 10-minute misconduct, 19:30; BC, Havern, hitting after the whistle, roughing, 19:30; BC, Alberts, hitting after the whistle, roughing, 19:30; Maine, Ryan, leg check, roughing, five-minute major for punching, game disqualification, 19:30; Maine, Shepheard, hitting after the whistle, roughing, 19:30; Maine, Johnson, hitting after the whistle, roughing, 19:30.

Shots on goal: Maine 3-16-5?24; BC 10-10-15?35

Goaltenders: Maine, Howard (35 shots, 31 saves), BC, Kaltiainen 24-23

Power plays: Maine 0-6, BC 1-6

High-percentage scoring opportunities: Maine 2-5-5 – 12; BC 6-5-6 – 17

Attendance: 7,884